How to buy PLANTS
This weekend is the kickoff for many gardeners
The big weekend is upon us — the Victoria Day long weekend — which is the traditional start-yourgardens weekend in this part of the world.
In reality, gardens — and garden centres — have been seeing a lot of activity for a couple of weeks now: warm weather and rain have made gardens explode and brought gardeners, blinking in the sunlight, out of the house.
Gardeners still want to be wary: Impatiens and tomatoes are probably the two most common coldsensitive plants that not only need warm soil (20C and up) to grow, but will be set back by cold soil. Keep them protected until the warmth is in the soil.
Regardless of temperatures, garden centres will be jammed, plant sales will be thronged, and gardeners will be ferrying flats of plants, wheelbarrowloads of compost and bags of various manures into their gardens.
But buying plants can be intimidating. There’s nothing wrong with shopping for a bargain: The secret is in recognizing one. A plant that does not thrive – grow healthily and produce the flowers, foliage or fruits you want – is no bargain. It’s important to know what to look for in plants that will do well in your garden.
How do you choose a healthy plant?
Plants are like icebergs – there’s a lot more below the surface than meets the eye. Strong, vigorous roots are essential. Look at the bottom of the pot: If roots are beginning to grow out of the holes there, that’s all right – in fact, it means that plant is not root-bound.
Get used to slipping a plant out of its container to look at its roots before buying. Put your first two fingers on either side of the stem, tip the pot upside down and slide the plan out. If it sticks, tap on the bottom of the pot. Don’t tug on the stem.
If the roots have wrapped around the rootball — and as long as they look thick and fresh — that’s fine, too. Just nudge them apart gently at the edges and bottom before you plant. But if roots are tightly wrapped or growing back into the rootball, they’re rootbound. They’ll be slower to adapt to your garden bed.
You can’t check the roots on every bedding plant you buy, but examine a sample of all your plants.
Remember that there are hundreds of thousands of annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables out there waiting to be purchased. Be picky.
Do not buy plants with yellowed leaves. Nothing you want in your garden causes yellow leaves.
No matter how much you like a plant, even if it’s the last one in the garden centre, do not buy anything that has insect bodies, chewed leaves or blackened or mushy areas. Assume any disease is contagious and incurable and any insect infestation is still present. Don’t take a sick plant home or you may lose not just it but your whole flower bed.
It seems too obvious to say don’t buy a wilted plant, so I won’t. But don’t even buy a plant if its neighbours are wilted. When a plant dries out and wilts, a good watering will often revive it, but it will not undo the stress to the plant and the damage to its roots and circulatory system.
Do not buy tall, spindly plants (unless nature intended them that way). They have been deprived of light, room or have been in their pots too long. Look for plants that are compact and bushy, with strong stems.
You will instinctively recognize healthy leaves –thick, fleshy, perhaps glossy. Leaves are to a plant what our skin is to us –a good indicator of our state of health.
If you find weeds or grass in the pots, consider it a sign of neglect. Weeds steal nutrients from plants when they need it most. If you regularly find weeds sharing space with plants, consider another garden centre.
Look for plants with strong stems. It’s much better to buy a plant — from a lowly impatiens to a shrub rose — with one or two strong stems than several thinner ones.
In the May frenzy, plants and tags get mixed up. Check tags carefully or choose healthy plants with enough flowers to confirm the colour or variety.
Put plastic bags or old pieces of carpet in the car before you go shopping so you can take plants that have been freshly watered. If it’s a hot day and you have a way to go or a stop to make, ask an employee to water your plants before you load them in the car.
When you get home, make sure they go in the shade and near a water supply. You wouldn’t buy plants from a garden centre that neglected plants, so don’t neglect yours. Regular watering – at least once a day, twice if it gets hot – is essential.
Next time: How to plant